Editing the driving behavior parameter Following behavior Page 1 of 6

>> Base data for simulation > Defining driving behavior parameter sets > Editing the driving
behavior parameter Following behavior

Editing the driving behavior parameter

Following behavior
1. Choose from the menu Base Data > Driving Behaviors.

The Driving Behaviors list opens. Some driving behavior parameter sets can be predefined.

By default, you can edit the list (Using lists).

You can edit all driving behavior parameters for lane change, lateral behavior and following
behavior in the list or in tabs with the following steps.

Note:

l In lists, you can use the Select attributes icon to show and hide attribute values
(Selecting attributes and subattributes for a list).

2. Right-click the entry of your choice.

3. From the shortcut menu, choose Edit.

The Driving Behavior Parameter Sets window opens.

4. Select the Following tab.

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5. Enter the desired data.

Element Description

min., max.:

The minimum and maximum distance that a vehicle can see forward in order to react to
other vehicles either in front or to the side of it (within the same link). Vehicles take
into account the look-ahead distance in addition to the entered number of preceding
vehicles.

The minimum value of the look- ahead distance is important when modeling lateral
Look vehicle behavior.
ahead
distance l If several vehicles can overtake within a lane this value needs to be greater than
zero. The value depends on the speed. In urban areas it could be 20-30m. That
way, you achieve the following:
l The cars drive in an orderly way when two or more vehicles on the same route
want to position themselves at a stop line. This applies in particular to bicycles.
l Vehicles observe the red light. Do not change the number of Observed vehicles,
in order to avoid the violation of the red light. This can lead to an unrealistic
simulation.
l If the minimum look-ahead distance is 0, then only the number of preceding
vehicles is applicable.

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Only the maximum look-ahead distance needs to be extended e.g. for modeling rail
traffic with block signals (Modeling railroad block signals).
Observed vehicles: The number of preceding vehicles affects how well vehicles in the
link can predict other vehicles' movements and react accordingly. Vehicles take into
account the look-ahead distance in addition to the entered number of preceding
vehicles.

Vehicles also treat the following network objects as a preceding vehicle. These
network objects act like a red signal head. If several of these network objects are within
a very short distance, increase the number of Observed vehicles. Thus, the computation
time of the simulation may slightly increase.

l Reduced Speed Areas

Look
l red signal heads
ahead
l Priority rules for cases wherein the minimum time gap or minimum headway is
distance
not met.

Vehicles treat the following network objects as a preceding vehicle, when they have to
stop there:

l Stop Signs
l Public transport stops
l Parking Lots

Conflict areas behavior: A vehicle takes into consideration all conflict areas up to the
preceding vehicle, indicative of the number of Observed vehicles.
The Look back distance defines the minimum and maximum distance that a vehicle
can see backwards in order to react to other vehicles behind (within the same link).

The minimum look back distance is relevant when you need to account for the lateral
behavior of vehicles: If several vehicles can overtake within the value must be greater
Look back
than zero. The value depends on the speed. In urban areas it could be 20-30 m. The
distance
cars drive in an orderly way when two or more vehicles on the same route want to
position themselves at a stop line. This applies in particular to bicycles.

You can reduce the maximum look-back distance in close-meshed networks, e.g. with
many connectors over a short distance. This may positively affect the simulation speed.
Duration: The period of time when vehicles may not react to a preceding vehicle. They
do react however to emergency braking.
Temporary
lack of
Probability: Frequency of the lack of attention
attention
With increasing values, the capacity of the affected links decreases.
If this option is checked, vehicles slow down more evenly when approaching a
stationary obstacle. At the maximum look-ahead distance from the stationary obstacle,
a following vehicle can plan to stop there as well, because the preceding vehicle will
Smooth stop there too.
closeup
behavior If this option is not selected, the following vehicle uses the normal following
behavior until the speed of the preceding vehicle drops to < 1 m/s and it comes almost
to a halt. Only then, the following vehicle determines the final approach behavior. This
approach behavior can include a temporary acceleration.
Standstill distance (ax) upstream of static obstacles such as signal heads, stop signs, PT

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stops, priority rules, conflict areas. Not valid for stop signs in parking lots.

If this option is not selected, the vehicles use a normally distributed random value
[0.5; 0.15].
Standstill
distance If this option is selected, the vehicles will use the given value. The default value is:
for static 0.5 m. Activate this option for PT vehicles at PT stops with platform screen doors and
obstacles queues at fixed positions on the platform. Enter the desired distance.

Note: The optimized modeling of driving behavior can lead to different results
than in previous versions.
Car following model for the car-following behavior. Depending on the selected car
following model the Model parameters change.
Car
following No interaction: Vehicles do not recognize any other vehicles. Use this entry to
l
model model pedestrian flows in an easy way.
l Wiedemann 74: Model suitable for urban traffic and merging areas
l Wiedemann 99: Model for freeway traffic with no merging areas

Displays different parameters depending on the car following model selected (Defining
Model the Wiedemann 74 model parameters), (Defining the Wiedemann 99 model
parameters parameters). These model parameters affect the saturation flow rate (Defining the
driving behavior parameter Saturation flow rate).

Superordinate topic:

Defining driving behavior parameter sets

Related topics:

Defining the Wiedemann 74 model parameters

Defining the Wiedemann 99 model parameters

Copyright © 2014 PTV AG>> Base data for simulation > Defining driving behavior
parameter sets > Editing the driving behavior parameter Following behavior > Defining
the Wiedemann 74 model parameters

Defining the Wiedemann 74 model parameters

This model is an improved version of Wiedemann’s 1974 car following model.

The following parameters are available:

Parameter Description
(ax): Defines the average desired distance between two cars. It has a
Average standstill
variation between -1.0 m and +1.0 m which is normally distributed at
distance
around 0.0 m with a standard deviation of 0.3 m.
Additive part of (bx_add): Value used for the computation of the desired safety distance d.
safety distance Allows to adjust the time requirement values.

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Multiplicative part of (bx_mult): Value used for the computation of the desired safety distance d.
safety distance Allows to adjust the time requirement values.

The distance d is calculated from:

where:

ax: Standstill distance

v: vehicle speed [m/s]

z: is a value of range [0.1], which is normally distributed around 0.5 with a standard deviation of
0.15

Superordinate topic:

Editing the driving behavior parameter Following behavior

Copyright © 2014 PTV AG>> Base data for simulation > Defining driving behavior
parameter sets > Editing the driving behavior parameter Following behavior > Defining
the Wiedemann 99 model parameters

Defining the Wiedemann 99 model parameters

This model is based on Wiedemann’s 1999 car following model.

The following parameters are available:

Parameter Description
CC0
(Standstill the average desired standstill distance between two vehicles. It has no variation.
Distance)
It is the distance in seconds which a driver wants to maintain at a certain speed. The
higher the value, the more cautious the driver is. Thus, at a given speed v [m/s], the
average safety distance is computed as:
CC1
(Following dx_safe = CC0 + CC1 • v
distance)
The safety distance is defined in the car following model as the minimum distance a
driver will maintain while following another vehicle. In case of high volumes this
distance becomes the value which has a determining influence on capacity.

It restricts the distance difference (longitudinal oscillation) or how much more

CC2 distance than the desired safety distance a driver allows before he intentionally
moves closer to the car in front. If this value is set to e.g. 10 m, the following
behavior results in distances between dx_safe to dx_safe + 10m. The default value is

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4.0m which results in a quite stable following behavior.

It controls the start of the deceleration process, i.e. the number of seconds before
CC3 reaching the safety distance. At this stage the driver recognizes a preceding slower
vehicle.
CC4 defines negative speed differences during the following process.

CC4 CC5 defines positive speed differences during the following process. Enter a positive
value for CC5 which corresponds to the negative value of CC4.
CC5
Low values result in a more sensitive driver reaction to the acceleration or
deceleration of the preceding vehicle.
Influence of distance on speed oscillation while in following process.

CC6 l Value 0: If set to 0 the speed oscillation is independent of the distance

l Larger values: Larger values lead to a greater speed oscillation with increasing
distance.
CC7 Oscillation during acceleration
Desired acceleration when starting from standstill (limited by maximum acceleration
CC8
defined within the acceleration curves).
Desired acceleration at 80 km/h (limited by maximum acceleration defined within
CC9
the acceleration curves).

Superordinate topic:

Editing the driving behavior parameter Following behavior

Copyright © 2014 PTV AG

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